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His book Memoirs of Her Majesty’s Prison Doctor details the bizarre ‘accidents’.

Dr Gordon Cameron has made a series of startling revelations in his new book

They are paid out of the Criminal Injuries fund, overseen by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and funded by the taxpayer.

The bill is swollen by the cost of investigating false claims and dealing with fraudulent suspects.

Dr Cameron, who writes under a pseudonym to protect his identity, said: “I have worked in every type of prison, both high and low security and both men’s and women’s.

“What I and other doctors have seen is a huge rise in self-inflicted injuries, driven by the desire for money.

“A decade ago, a typical prison would see seven such cases a week. Now, that figure is around ten or more.”

He added: “Unfortunately there is no other way to put it other than British prisoners are milking the penal system – and largely getting away with it.”

Without an admission of guilt or video evidence, Dr Cameron admits that it is “almost impossible” to accurately determine whether an injury was sustained through suspicious means or by a genuine accident.

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But he said the number of prisoners to injure themselves doing something “massively stupid and beyond all normality and expectations” has risen significantly in recent years.

Dr Cameron says instances of inmates injuring themselves on purpose are on the rise (Photo: rex)

He treated 364 incidents per year in 2005 and 520 in 2015 – an increase of 30 per cent in a decade. Male inmates aged between 20 and 40 are said to be most prone to “highly unusual calamities”.

Incidents are investigated by Dr Cameron in the first instance before a report is filed to the Prison Governor. If an inmate wishes to make a claim, he or she is also entitled to Legal Aid and even representation in court if the prison denies liability.

Most successful claimants net only a couple of hundred pounds, but the braver few can and do bag “thousands” if they are prepared to break a bone, Dr Cameron claims.

Those jailbirds who do get caught – usually because their fraudulent deed was caught on CCTV – typically lose visitation rights but receive no further penalty.

Dr Cameron, whose book is out this week, added: “I would call for Parliament to take an urgent look at the compensation culture within prisons to bring the abuses to a stop.”

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A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “We robustly defend all compensation claims and are successful in two thirds of cases brought against us by prisoners.

"But we are determined to do all we can to bring down the cost of compensation to the taxpayer – that’s why we commissioned a review into prison pay-outs. Ministers are currently considering its findings.

“The government will also drive down compensation costs with our moves to reform prison safety. We are spending £14m on prison officer recruitment to reduce pressure on staff and help cut violence in prisons.”